why I play evil characters

[Teflon Billy]

In my game I have done away with alignment entirely (any spells or items that affect alignment now affect a race).

That said, before I did this, Crothian's rules matched mine almost exactly. Be evil if you want, but expect consequences for truly antisocial behaviour.

Do what you want. I'm not interested in using alignemnt to "ride herd" on the players. If you want to play a guy who is nice to everyone all the time and is totally selfless do so, you don't need to call it LG to impress me.

Same with CE. If you are playing CE in my game, I will know.

I just won't call it that and it won't have a mechanical effect on the game.

 

[I'm A Banana]

The point of this thread is to provide enlightenment as to why I so often and so acurately play evil characters.

Oh thank you so much for the long journey down off your high horse to enlighten us plebians below here how you are most obviously superior in your opinions.

I wish to play evil characters because it is not the conventional way of doing things

This also makes me very dubious of your actual desire for "creativity" instead of just being rebellious-kewl. Not to dump on you man, but if one of the major reasons you're doing something is to defy the norm, you've become the norm which you defy. By becoming something's antithesis, you become as stereotyped and one-dimensional yourself.

A message board isn't a good place to get a lock on people, but I might smell something of the Troll here. I'm not judging you...I'm just telling you the impression you've made on me so far.

Look at Osama bin Blown Uppin, he has friends, followers, a loving wife, and children. Someone obviously likes him, and he obviously likes them

Great...bring politics and religion into it. Great way to have a reasonable discussion. I could go into a debate here, but it's not the time or the place.

On-topic.

I don't disallow evil characters. But evil in D&D is a tangible force and not just a mindset. Evil in D&D has no true real world analogues. "Realistic Evil" doesn't really exist. It is not relative, not subjective. It is an energy, like fire, or sound, that affects your spirit.

To be honest, I'm a big fan of flexible alignments. IMHO, alignments don't tell you how you're supposed to act. How your character acts tells you what your alignment is. If you think that you're being Chaotic Evil by slaughting innocents carelessly as you go about your persuit of wealth and glory, fine. But I'd say Neutral Evil. You're slaughtering those innocents to get the girl, not to destroy order. Chaotic is more than a disrespect for order -- it is an opposition of it, in the same way that Good is an opposition of Evil.

If you keep around the girl after you get what you want, I may start doubting your alignment, too. CE would've likely slain the girl as soon as she gave you what you wanted. Even if you rationalize it with "I'm keeping her for later," that's thinking ahead, which is slightly Lawful. If you actually go out of your way to save her, even if it's only so you can get more of whatever it is you want, then I may be leaning even away from Evil. Why worry abuot her, when there's many more who can give you the same thing?

IMHO, evil is most often (though not always) played by those most uncomplicated of rebels -- the reactionary opposites, who defy the norm because they want to be contrary and different and develop the mistique of the desperado.

And if anyone ever tried to play evil IMC by emulating someone who has an "evil" reputation in the real world, I would say "no." No real-world person has ever been as evil as an illogically composed, no-motivation-nessecary D&D evil may be.

 

[Dagger75]

Yoda said it best in Empire strikes back

LUKE: Is the dark side stronger?

YODA: No, easier.

 

[reapersaurus]

I think it's all about the character.

It isn't very promising to hear someone say "I want to play an evil character."

If they are saying "I have a character i want to play.
<Neat background and strong character concept description omitted >
She happens to be on the selfish/evil side of the fence."

That bodes much better in my eyes, for successful gaming.

 

[Lord of Tilverton]

LE would have enslaved them...

Probably...

And to touch on allowing evil in campaigns, I see absolutly nothing wrong with it as long as its creative with background and isnt the sterotypical evil person killin random ppl in tha streets.
-Kaul Ravinous

 

[maddman75]

It depends on the campaign style. Some games are simply unsuited for evil characters.

I tend to run strongly epic games. The heroes get swept up in something bigger than themselves and somehow manage to save the town/kingdom/world. Having an evil scheming SOB in the middle of such a group is a distraction and disruption. It wastes my game time dealing with someone grasping for personal power when the rest of the group is on a quest to defeat the demon-lord of Agnor. The campaign is *centered* on good versus evil. Playing a villain is not acceptable here, at my table anyway.

Now I am getting ready to play in an evil campaign, where all the characters are scheming SOBs grasping for personal power. That's fine, and it should be a blast. However, it would be very rude and unconscionable to play a paladin in the middle of this group. It would disrupt the game and distract everyone.

Take into account the nature of the campaign when you design your character.

 

[Joker]

Never again for me.

I couldn't play true evil anymore. The only evil characters that I could play now would be the:

"Look at me, I have red eyes and wear black clothes and kill everyone because I'm evil, mwahahahahahahahaha."

That's cartoon evil, Dr. Evil evil and IMO that's no fun.

I just couldn't play the real kind of evil anymore without knowing what it meant.

I'm sorry if my post is a bit vague but it's a really subjective subject and extremely hard to define properly. And I know that I haven't really explained what "true evil" is because I can't with mere words.

Go to Auswitz-Birkenau (sp?) to find out what true evil did.

 

[Humanophile]

Re: Never again for me.

I would daresay that cartoony evil has its place. Especially in light of some of the things people do.

I would much rather play with a snidley wiplash, especially one who came along on quests with us and was kept from going too far over the edge by the paladin's sharp eye and strong fist, than I would with a hitler type character. But that goes back to what I was saying before about making other people uncomfortable; Dr. Evil and the marauding hordes can be fun for a one off, and most V:tM fans like the dog-eat-dog world of backstabbing it offers, but living up to what some real people can do is simply not done. If you'd have fun, or even enjoy, playing that, I'd ask you to undergo severe psychological help before I let you back at my table, or near me for that matter.

 

[telepox]

people having a hard time separating

funny how the short replies here seem to hold the most wisdom to me. everyone should keep their "persons" separate from their characters.

 

[trimeulose]

Great...bring politics and religion into it. Great way to have a reasonable discussion. I could go into a debate here, but it's not the time or the place.

I was in no way commenting on his ends, I was commenting on his means. He kills innocents. Innocents who have worked hard to aspire to be at their situation in life, and for what? His ends. Now I will bring in his ends. His ends are his means. He wishes us to die. He has thought for so long that his ends are his means and vice versa. That in itself makes his killing evil. But he still has those who believe him rightious. I am not here to judge him. The point is that he is believed evil and is evil in many aspects, yet he retains his children.

This also makes me very dubious of your actual desire for "creativity" instead of just being rebellious-kewl. Not to dump on you man, but if one of the major reasons you're doing something is to defy the norm, you've become the norm which you defy. By becoming something's antithesis, you become as stereotyped and one-dimensional yourself.

And in that way you are blinded. Kaul I am asking for a personal voucher on this one. Have I done anything for myself because I wanted to fit in more? Have I ever gone the way of everyone else simply because I wanted people to find me more attractive? Can I at least ask that you will vouch for in saying that I do what I do because either I truly want to, or because I wish least harm to all people?

Futhermore, when was the last debate on the boards that started a flame war over GOOD characters. That is why I do them not because others are traversing that road, but rather because I wish to show others that it can be done.

I saw to roads, and I took the one less traveled.

One other thing, anyone, anyone at all that knows me, Am I one diminsional, am I stereotypical? I should hope that of all things that I believe in myself that I am anything but stereotypical.

Oh thank you so much for the long journey down off your high horse to enlighten us plebians below here how you are most obviously superior in your opinions.

And you mocked me. Of all the things I could do to prove my point. You did it infintestimally more. You have shown why I wish to explain myself. Because of you and others like you I have shown that I wish to explain myself, you in response have said because I wish to be understood that I am vain. I will not deny it I am vain. I have more vanity, ego, and over-self-confidence than anyone or two or three people could ever need. But do I have vanity I my wanting to explain myself? Do I have an ego at wanting to express my thoughts? At least, through you, others will more clearly understand.